15 February: In the morning, overcast, dark in the north, windless. At seven thirty, 19°F [−7.2°C]. About ten o’clock last evening, a large owl alarmed us. It sat on the blockhouse. They wanted to shoot it, but it got away.

It snowed a little after eight o’clock. Dreidoppel went outside to pursue rabbits on the new tracking snow. Durand [and] several Indians visited us. Today the Indian women dragged large amounts of wood to Mih-Tutta-Hangkusch. Dipäuch brought us his unique medicine pipe (íh-hink-chóppenih) that was sketched; its round head has almost the Turkish shape. Dreidoppel had not seen anything but a flock of snow buntings. The wind rose and was now blowing cold out of the east. Twelve o’clock noon, 25°F [−3.9°C], wind cold [and from the] east. Many Indian women dragged wood on the ice of the river; others pushed [it]. The engagés were now fetching firewood with their sleds from the forest located opposite [the fort]. Mr. Kipp returned before lunch. He had heard nothing new. The buffalo herds were still almost a three-day trip distant, too far away to hunt.

The Hidatsas found a dead buffalo cow (without doubt wounded earlier) on the prairie. [It] already smelled strong, but despite that [they] ate all the meat. Máhchsi-Karéhde visited us for a moment but soon returned to the lower forest village.[Page 3:150] I went with Dreidoppel to Mih-Tutta-Hangkusch. A few flocks of snow buntings and Fringilla linaria swarmed around there. Close to the village on the prairie were some places with plants that [had] seeds that [the birds] ate. The Indian children had caused them to be so shy that we could not get close enough to the Emberiza nivalis. The finches stayed in the village fences and between the lodges. They were not all that shy, [although] the old males with [their] blood-red breasts kept much to themselves. The wind was so cold that it would have damaged our ears if we had stayed [very] long. In the evening we wrote down Hidatsa words. The young Indian who told them [had] recently given the show with the deaf-mute berdache. Night very windy, moderately cold. The owl came again at ten o’clock. It was most likely attracted by the rats. They shot at it without killing it.